Coherent Economics is pleased to announce the addition of three leading experts in banking, financial networks, payment systems, and consumer credit to its roster of affiliates. The experts are Dr. Sujit “Bob” Chakravorti, Dr. James “Jamie” McAndrews, and Dr. Scott Schuh. Dr. Alan Frankel, Coherent’s President and leader of its antitrust and financial institutions & payments practice groups, stated, “Coherent is thrilled to have these three leading experts in banking, regulation, payments, and consumer finance join Coherent as affiliates. Together, these experts significantly expand Coherent’s depth of experience and expertise in these areas.”

For over twenty years, Dr. Sujit “Bob” Chakravorti has been at the forefront of technological, economic, regulatory, and policy issues and debates surrounding payments and banking, most recently as an advisor to financial institutions, technology firms, policymakers, and FinTech startups. He has served as Chief Economist at The Clearing House, the operator of the largest U.S. private sector payment system and, at the time, a trade association for the largest 24 commercial banks operating in the United States, and for many years before that as a senior research economist at the Federal Reserve Banks of Chicago and Dallas. Prior to joining the Federal Reserve System, he worked at KPMG as an international economist advising foreign governments on financial market modernization. Dr. Chakravorti received his PhD in economics from Brown University and his BA in economics and genetics from the University of California-Berkeley.

Dr. James “Jamie” McAndrews served for 28 years in the Federal Reserve System as an economist specializing in payment systems, money and banking. From 2010-16 he served as Executive Vice President and head of the Research and Statistics Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Dr. McAndrews was a member of the steering committee for the Federal Reserve System's Comprehensive Liquidity Analysis and Review (CLAR) from its founding in 2011 to 2016, and served as Associate Economist to the Federal Open Market Committee in 2012. He represented the Bank on a number of international committees devoted to retail and large value payments, funding liquidity, and monetary policy implementation. Mr. McAndrews played a prominent role in the New York Fed’s financial stability efforts, including contributing to the design of several liquidity facilities during the financial crisis. Mr. McAndrews holds both a bachelor’s and a doctorate degree in economics from the University of Iowa.

Dr. Scott Schuh served for 26 years as an economist in the Federal Reserve System at the Board of Governors and then the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, where he served as the founding Director of the Consumer Payments Research Center. Dr. Schuh led the creation and development of the Survey of Consumer Payment Choice and the Diary of Consumer Payment Choice. He also worked as a staff economist for President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers. Dr. Schuh’s research and teaching have focused on consumer payments, household finance, macroeconomics and monetary economics, with applications in econometrics, labor, and international economics. He currently teaches at West Virginia University, and has previously taught at Boston University, Boston College, and Johns Hopkins University. He received a B.A. in economics and journalism from California State University, Sacramento, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from John Hopkins University.